Afterward, the two discussed matters in Ningxia.

Xiao Jinglin said, “Lady Di gave birth to a son recently, and both mother and child are safe.”

Ren Yaoqi thought of what her maternal grandmother Rong Shi had told her last time about the Wu and Zeng families’ marriage alliance, and shared this with Xiao Jinglin.

Xiao Jinglin understood: “If Lady Di didn’t have the Di family protecting her, she would have died countless times already.”

In present-day Ningxia, there were quite a few people who wanted Wu Xiaohe to have no descendants, including his wife and daughter. In less than a year, Xiao Wei and Wu Yiyu had sent at least a dozen waves of assassins to kill Lady Di, but unfortunately all returned in defeat.

The Di family protected Lady Di flawlessly. It was said they had found over ten body doubles, hiding them in various places. Xiao Wei and Wu Yiyu had killed the wrong people several times.

Ren Yaoqi secretly shook her head. Xiao Wei was too clever by half, never thinking about the foundation of her position, only engaging in these useless endeavors. If she could firmly maintain the same stance as the Prince of Yanbei’s residence, never mind one Di family or one Lady Di—no matter how many concubine sons Wu Xiaohe fathered, she could still sit securely as Ningxia’s first lady with no one daring to challenge her, and her daughter would have many more choices in marriage.

Ren Yaoqi and Xiao Jinglin chatted privately in the room for a while. Soon, Sangshen came to report that Li Shi was looking for Ren Yaoqi, asking her to bring people to the storeroom to find those sets of plum, orchid, chrysanthemum, and bamboo dishes, as well as various floral tableware.

Two years ago, when this batch of porcelain was made, the patterns were drawn by Third Master Ren and Ren Yaoqi together. After completion, they had been stored in the storeroom unused. It was Nanny Zhou who suggested that using them today would be perfectly appropriate for the occasion and would allow Ren Yaoqi to gain face before everyone. Li Shi then asked Ren Yaoqi to find this set of dishes.

Since Xiao Jinglin had returned and definitely couldn’t leave again soon, there was no rush for their conversation. So after arranging things for Xiao Jinglin, Ren Yaoqi took people to the storeroom.

During the midday meal, everyone admired the exquisite craftsmanship of the bowls, dishes, cups, spoons, and chopsticks, all praising them endlessly. When they learned that the patterns were designed by Third Master Ren and Ren Yaoqi themselves, they heaped praise on them, making even Li Shi, who was usually not vain, feel somewhat proud.

Several ladies wanted Li Shi to provide the patterns, saying they would have similar sets made as dowries for their daughters. Since Third Master Ren and Ren Yaoqi had no objections, Li Shi laughingly agreed.

Because of this flower appreciation feast, the flowers brought by these ladies were all comparable masterpieces, so there was some debate during the final judging. However, these ladies were all very measured, though their flowers were good, none were so outstanding as to overshadow the hosts. So the top honor and second place went to an orchid and an “Eighteen Scholars” camellia cultivated by Third Master Ren, while third place went to Ouyang Shi’s “Phoenix Spreading Feathers.”

Afterward, Ouyang Shi suggested that instead of continuing to rank fourth and fifth places, they should have fun categories like “Eldest Flower” and “Most Beautiful Flower.”

Ouyang Shi’s proposal was unanimously approved, and the young ladies racked their brains to think of titles for their family’s flowers. The process was very lively.

In the end, almost every family’s flowers were selected for some category, and even Princess Xiao’s pot of cactus was jokingly given the title “Female General of Flowers” by Ren Yaoqi.

Xiangqin whispered to Pingguo on the side: “Hey, why is it a female general? Do flowers have genders, too?”

Pingguo paused, then said definitively: “Because it bloomed. Have you ever seen a man with flowers?”

“Oh, that makes sense.” Xiangqin nodded in sudden understanding and continued watching the festivities with interest.

This flower appreciation gathering could be considered Li Shi’s first victory. Her gentle modesty and learned propriety left an excellent impression on all the attending ladies, making them overlook her merchant family background and remember instead her other identity—the legitimate daughter of Prince Xian and the direct granddaughter of the late emperor. Combined with Ren Shimin’s talent and grace among the younger teachers at Yunyang Academy, and his dislike of competing for fame and profit, giving him an air of Wei-Jin gentlemanly refinement, the ladies who had originally approached Li Shi only out of respect for Ouyang Shi now genuinely wanted to befriend her. Meanwhile, Madam Liu and Madam Chen, who had already hit it off with Li Shi, became even closer to her.

Actually, besides these factors, everyone’s attitude was also related to Xiao Jinglin’s presence.

Everyone in Yunyang City knew that Princess Xiao was not someone who enjoyed joining random gatherings. She never attended events when invited, yet this time she came uninvited, and on the very day she returned from the frontier.

Princess Xiao’s attitude inevitably made people think of the Prince of Yanbei’s residence’s stance. Everyone understood that the small lesson the Prince of Yanbei’s residence had given the Ren family earlier hadn’t extended to Ren Shimin’s branch.

When the flower appreciation gathering finally ended and Li Shi took Ren Yaoqi and Ren Yaohua to see off the guests, several more ladies invited Li Shi and her daughters to attend their gatherings or small banquets, all of which Li Shi gladly accepted.

Xiao Jinglin stayed until the very end before leaving. Though Li Shi didn’t hold the same awe for the Xiao family as other Yanbei people, she genuinely liked this easygoing, unpretentious princess who was friends with her daughter. Seeing that Xiao Jinglin also liked the floral porcelain, Li Shi gave her an unused set—a long-necked, round-bellied wine bottle painted with peach blossoms.

Xiao Jinglin readily accepted it, telling Ren Yaoqi that she would use this bottle to store her favorite peach blossom wine when she returned, leaving Ren Yaoqi not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

Ren Yaoqi personally escorted Xiao Jinglin to the second gate. Today, Xiao Jinglin had come on horseback with Hong Ying, not in a carriage.

“The invitation should arrive in a few days,” Xiao Jinglin said before mounting her horse.

The invitation Xiao Jinglin referred to was for her coming-of-age ceremony. The Prince of Yanbei’s residence would send invitations to important aristocratic families, though families like the Rens wouldn’t normally receive such invitations.

Ren Yaoqi smiled and nodded: “Good.”

Xiao Jinglin asked curiously: “Have you decided on that thing?”

Ren Yaoqi knew Xiao Jinglin was referring to her courtesy name, so she blinked: “I’ve decided, but I won’t tell you now.”

Xiao Jinglin pouted childishly, then mounted her horse: “I’m leaving then. If anything comes up, come find me at the prince’s residence.”

Ren Yaoqi nodded, watching as Xiao Jinglin rode away with Hong Ying.

When Ren Yaoqi returned to the inner courtyard, Xiangqin came running out breathlessly, holding a potted plant: “Fifth Miss, Fifth Miss, the Princess’s ‘Female General’ was left behind!”

Looking at the blooming cactus, Ren Yaoqi found it somewhat amusing. She wondered if Xiao Jingxi had deliberately played a joke on Xiao Jinglin by finding her such a flower.

“Just put it in the flower room for now.” She had heard Xiao Jinglin tell Hong Ying to dispose of the thing as she pleased. Princess Xiao had never been one to cherish flowers.

Xiangqin happily carried the flower away, specifically instructing the woman in the flower room: “Granny, you must take good care of this. This is a flower that bloomed in the Prince of Yanbei’s residence—it might be touched by immortal energy! It could bless our entire household with peace and prosperity, so don’t be careless!”

This frightened the flower room staff, who didn’t know whether they should prepare an altar to offer three sticks of incense to this cactus morning and evening.

Over the following period, Ren Yaoqi didn’t deliberately seek out Xiao Jinglin, knowing that the Princess Consort must have had many things for her to handle after calling her back so early.

However, Ren Yaoqi did intermittently learn some news from Ningxia. When Zeng Kui was traveling from Yunyang City to Ningxia, he was intercepted once along the way and injured in the arm, though fortunately his life was spared. Outside rumors said this was the work of Miss Wu Yiyu, who didn’t want to marry Zeng Kui and intended to frighten him.

Unfortunately, Zeng Kui wasn’t one to be scared and still returned to Ningxia.

The marriage alliance between the Zeng and Wu families couldn’t be disrupted by Wu Yiyu’s unreasonable tantrums. Xiao Wei’s attitude seemed very firm, and fearing more trouble from Wu Yiyu, she even ordered her daughter’s feet to be bound to confine her.

Actually, if it were truly about forming a marriage alliance, Xiao Wei would certainly look down on the disfigured Zeng Kui as a son-in-law, and Zeng Pu might not be willing to marry his only son to a daughter-in-law with a reputation for violence and poor standing.

However, both sides were now forced by circumstances. Only by allying could the Zeng family and Xiao Wei barely maintain their footing in Ningxia; otherwise, both their forces would be completely absorbed by the Prince of Yanbei’s residence.

Soon, news came from Ningxia that the former and current Ningxia commanders had officially become in-laws. Zeng Kui and Wu Yiyu became the newest engaged couple.

Though the marriage alliance between the two families was now settled, Miss Wu Yiyu didn’t calm down because of it, still regularly threatening to cause trouble for “that ugly monster” Zeng Kui.

However, with the marriage alliance in place, both Zeng Kui and Xiao Wei gained some benefits. Xiao Wei already had some people loyal to the Wu family’s main branch, and combined with Zeng Kui’s people and his imperial appointment as Ningxia commander, they assembled a considerable force.

Of course, now that the Di family had Wu Xiaohe’s only heir, many forces were gravitating toward them as well. Both the Di family and the Zeng-Wu alliance were desperately trying to absorb Ningxia’s military strength, formally facing off against each other.

At this moment, when Ningxia’s forces were engaged in fierce struggle, Xiao Jinglin’s coming-of-age ceremony was set for June 22nd, her actual birthday.

Three days before the coming-of-age ceremony, the Prince of Yanbei’s court astronomers began divining to select the guest who would place the hairpin for Princess Xiao during the ceremony.